The Courier Droid
by ImperialJedi
Summary: PreROTJ. This is a short story about a mousebot and its adventures on the SSD Executer. Written in Y2K, it has been posted with minimal editing from the original. Main Characters: Admiral Piett, Darth Vader, and MSE Courier Droid
1. Chapter 1

The Courier Droid

By ImperialJedi

**Summary:** Post-ESB, Pre ROTJ. I found an old disk of mine and on it was this story of a mousebot and its adventures on the SSD Executer. I've broken it down into seven chapters and there will be minimal editing done to it. I wrote it my freshman year of high school, so that would have made me 14 years old. Enjoy! –IJedi

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the story, characters, industry, or royalties thereof. I do, however, own a modest collection of EU books, all but Ep. 3 of the movies, and a homemade Jedi outfit. Obviously, no money is being made.

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Prologue:

The mousebot squeaked as it ran on its wheels down the metal plated hull. It looked more like a black toaster than a mouse, but it got it's nickname from the squeak and the fact that it ran along the floor near the crewmen's booted feet. In fact, it not only squeaked, it had a mission. Yes, it had a purpose for roaming the halls of the Imperial Star Destroyer. For it is known as...

The Courier Droid

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Admiral Piett ran down the halls to his Lords' current location on the Super Star Destroyer. The Executor was massive and navigating the halls was a bit of a trick, but he arrived safely at his destination. He had, of course, been the Captain of this ship until his predecessor, Admiral Ozzel, failed the Dark Lord of Sith in the attack of the rebel base on the ice planet of Hoth. The attack had been counted as an Imperial victory in the end after the death of two fleet commanders and many others in the ground troops.

Piett slowed down to a walk and straightened his olive green uniform. Taking a deep breath he rounded the corner. Darth Vader stood like a dark monolith in the steel gray corridor. The Admiral walked up to the Sith and awaited acknowledgement. After only a few moments he started to feel impatient. Was the Dark Lord asleep? A mousebot rolled by to the end of the hall and took a left, disappearing from sight. He felt a slight tug through what he did not know was the Force and decided to face the wraith of Vader. He had important news that needed to be delivered immediately.

"Lord Vader," the Admiral said in a respectfully. Only silence responded. This was beginning to be ridiculous. "Lord Vader!" Vader stirred and then stood a little taller than before. He turned around sharply causing his long cape to flutter behind him. He raised one hand and curved his finger. Piett then found himself hanging more than a meter above the floor and fighting for air.

"What is it, Piett?" his voice boomed. Piett started to struggle with the invisible hand around his neck, but stopped suddenly remembering what he meant to say. It was important enough to save his life and excuse him for awaking Vader. With a fearful confidence he answered.

"Th, the Em, Emperor," the Admiral managed to stammer. He suddenly fell to the floor and felt a great pain in his leg. Piett winced. "He wishes you to contact him, immediately." His leg hurt so bad he sat on the floor. He could swear it was broken.

"Very well. Have it connected to my private chambers," and with that the Dark Lord whirled around and stalked off to his quarters. As soon as he was around the corner and out of sight Piett allowed his true pain to show externally. "Owww...," he moaned and then allowed himself a string of Corellian curses. Tears formed in his eyes, but they never fell.

A minute later, two medical personal rushed over with a stretcher. 'Bout time, he thought bitterly. A mousebot appeared out of nowhere and scurried straight to Piett with a datacard. The Admiral grabbed it and then lifted himself onto the stretcher. The droid scampered off as he laid down and requested a datapad as he was carried to the med bay. Piett was handed one and he put in the datacard. It distracted him from the pain. He read it carefully, very carefully.

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	2. Chapter 2

The Courier Droid

By _ImperialJedi_

**Summary:** Post-ESB, Pre ROTJ. I found an old disk of mine and after many attempts I finally managed to open the outdated files. On it was this story of a mousebot and its adventures on the SSD Executer. Main Characters: Admiral Piett, Darth Vader, and the Courier Droid.

**Disclaimer:** Meesa no makin' bombad moolah. Whosa thinkin' meesa am? Weesa all wishin' we own Star Wars, but weesa don't. Yousa can sue somewon elsa!

**Author Notes:** This chapter is dedicated to _darth mojo the spork_, my first reviewer for this story. Thanx!

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The mousebot had located Piett, but he was in the presence of Darth Vader. Using what little artificial intelligence it had the courier droid decided it was not the best time to deliver so it continued to the end of the hall and took a left. It then doubled back and found a little out of the way place to park itself and watch the Admiral.

What it found was somewhat disturbing, but of little consequence. They were about to have Piett lifted and taken elsewhere to have his leg mended. It was now or never, the little droid reasoned. The mousebot rushed over and caught Piett's attention who promptly took the datacard it carried and then gave the droid no more thought. This did not matter. It's mission was accomplished. The courier droid then went off to acquire a new one.

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Darth Vader was not in a good mood. He didn't know what happened, but he had somehow fallen asleep in the halls. This was most embarrassing. And to almost kill Piett, one of his most respected officers, who only did his duty to the Emperor. This should be rewarded, not punished. Shocked as he was he still should have set down the Admiral gently instead of dropping him outright. Now, his right leg was broken and it was Vader's fault.

My fault, it was _my_ fault. Anakin paused and pushed that thought into the back of his head. _Anakin_! What made him think of that name. Such a weak man. It didn't matter. It was all in the past, or was it? The son of Skywalker. That's what the Emperor referred to young Luke as, not even acknowledging him as Vader's son.

He had been right there. I told him the truth, yet he choose to jump, rather than join me. It's all Obi-Wan's fault! If he hadn't tried to bring me back to the light, I would still have my old body, not this mechanical apparatus. I would have been able to raise Luke as my own. I would have been a father... Obi-Wan! You took this all away from me!

Vader let his anger and rage surge from him and conquer his innermost feelings. He stalked into his personal chambers and stepped up to the holoprojector. Kneeling on one knee, Vader bowed his head and awaited his Master's contact. The holoprojector flickered a little and soon the warped face of the Emperor appeared.

"What is thy bidding, my Master?" Vader asked submissively.

Emperor Palpatine glared down at Vader, angrily. His frown increased. "You have failed, Lord Vader," he spoke with contempt. "I am most disappointed in you. Not only didn't Skywalker turn, you allowed him to escape alive. For this you shall be punished. Return to the Imperial Center at once!" Before Vader could say anything at all, the Emperor cut off the transmission. The Dark Lord felt a slight wave of fear. Not for himself, but for his son. The Emperor had never been this angry at him, including the loss of the Death Star.

Sighing, he stood up and turned around, heading to his life support pod. Something beeped at his feet and Vader looked down. Normally, the Dark Lord would have angrily stomped on it instantly, but he didn't. Instead, he wondered idly how it got in his quarters in the first place. He mentally slapped himself on the hand for being so inattentive and then examined the courier droid once again. It carried a datacard which was obviously for him. He reached down and took it and walked into his pod. As the pod closed around him he slipped the card into his computer terminal and used the Force to let the mousebot out. Time seemed to slow down as Vader read the information on the terminal and when he was done he would have laughed out loud if not for his respirator.

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**Author's Notes:** I can't remember what comes next, so I'm sitting here wondering what Vader is finding funny. MTFBWY, IJedi


	3. Chapter 3

The Courier Droid

By _ImperialJedi_

**Summary:** Post-ESB, Pre ROTJ. I found an old disk of mine and after many attempts I finally managed to open the outdated files. On it was this story of a mousebot and its adventures on the SSD Executer. Main Characters: Admiral Piett, Darth Vader, and the Courier Droid.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Star Wars and I am not making any money from this story either.

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The mousebot ran on it's little wheels as fast as it could and then skidded to a stop at the end of the hall. It turned around and inspected it's own skid marks. It analyzed it's actions and concluded it was "fun". _How strange,_ the little droid thought. _Why would I consider anything fun? I think I'm overdue for a maintenance check._

The droid was. It was wiped every month just to keep the continuously learning machine from gaining too much experience beyond delivering datacards. The mousebot headed to the aft section of the Super Star Destroyer where droid maintenance was located. As soon it was settled in a spot sure to be noticed by a mechanic the little droid shut itself off.

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Admiral Piett was thoroughly indisposed. A medical droid leaned over his right leg and was busily mending the break. The pain was gone. It had subsided when he was given painkillers upon arriving at the medical bay. A woman had come in before. She gave him a once over and then left to more important matters. What could be more important that healing a Admiral's leg he couldn't figure out. What had really caught him by surprise was the fact that the doctor was a woman. It was really rare in the Empire to have females working in the fleet, especially since the Emperor had prejudices against them and aliens. Once there were rumors that the Emperor had promoted an alien to the rank of Grand Admiral. Piett didn't know what to think of that. Maybe they were just rumors, or maybe they were true.

Sighing, he looked away from the droid and stared at the table next to him. There sat the datacard he had been reading earlier. It was interesting that the supplier of the info was not listed on it. Nor was the person who relayed it to him via courier droid. Piett smiled, those droids could be amusing sometimes. Once, he recalled, there were several of them that were overdue for maintenance. They were playing a game of follow the leader and wandered all over the ship. He had only been a lieutenant then and had considered that very funny.

"I see you are doing better," that booming voice broke into his thoughts. Lord Vader stood at the foot of the bed that Piett was in.

"Yes, m'Lord," was the reluctant reply. Piett was wary and preferred not having the attention of the Dark Lord. Piett tried to sit up, but something held him down. He looked up and saw Vader's outstretched hand and mentally cursed. It was that "Force" thing again. He relaxed and decided to report from where he was.

"I have just acquired some information from an unknown source revealing the location of the rebel fleet. They seem to be out of the galaxy entirely, but I don't believe they'd stay there. An attack force might be in good order," Piett suggested cheerfully. _There must have been something else in those painkillers than just aspirin,_ he thought warily.

"I shall suggest that to the Emperor when we arrive at the Imperial Center." Piett nodded and fell asleep. Vader studied the Admiral for a while. Bacta was in short supply, so broken bones had to be mended in a slow, but careful process. Vader nodded and left for the bridge of his flagship. He would have to see how the Captain was doing without the Admiral. They should be at the Imperial Center in a day or two. Vader could hardly wait. (That was sarcastic if you didn't notice.)

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**Author's Notes:** Is anyone reading this? Hello:P


	4. Chapter 4

The Courier Droid

By _ImperialJedi_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Star Wars and I am not making any money from this story either.

**Chapter Dedicated To:** _MissNaye_ and _Quill of Molliemon_. Thank you for your wonderful reviews:) –IJedi

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Trydi had just returned from looking at a new patient. This one was an Admiral she did not know. He had a broken leg which could be easily mended by the droid. She sat down at her desk and continued her analysis. She was on the breaking point of finding the cure of a disease which had killed her family. "Ah ha!" she shouted. She typed a report frantically into her computer and then programmed the making of the vaccine. Satisfied, she decided for a break. She had been working almost non-stop on this for a year now and deserved to relax.

She passed the sleeping Admiral whose leg was practically fixed. He would able to walk on it normally by tomorrow, she thought. She then left to go find a pilots bar. She wasn't a pilot, but it's not like anyone would care.

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A few hours later Admiral Piett woke up and the medical droid drew closer. In a monotone voice it addressed him, "Your leg has been fixed. You are ordered to rest in your quarters the rest of today, and are given permission to return to your duties tomorrow." As he listened to his "orders" he sat up and swung his legs to the side of the bed. He then tenderly stepped down onto the floor. It felt okay. He than took his datacard along with another one and returned to his quarters.

The doors of his quarters slid open and the Admiral hobbled inside. It was a spacious room, but there wasn't much in here. He had just been moved from the Captain's quarters to Admiral Ozzel's former living space. He sat down on the couch with his right leg elevated. He then filled out one of the datapads which had an incident report form on it, and afterwards he fell asleep once again.

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Mousebot 1523 awoke into it's new world. Finding it had a interlink with the ships computer it quickly downloaded it's commands and it's first mission. Disconnecting from the system it headed out on it's own on the massive Star Destroyer in search of Doctor Trydi.

After delivering the incident report to Dr. Trydi from Admiral Piett it rushed on to other duties. Trydi filed the report and then went to her quarters to sleep.

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	5. Chapter 5

The Courier Droid

By _ImperialJedi_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Star Wars and I am not making any money from this story either.

**Chapter Dedicated To:** _Adder_ and _Kyra Invictus_. Excellent reviews. Thanx:) –IJedi

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Vader sat meditating in his pod. Today he was to go see his Master, and find out the fate of young Skywalker. His black helmet was removed and the pale flesh was revealed to no one. Concentrating with the Force he opened his pod up and tried to breath without his respirator. After a minute he closed up his pod once again. Mechanical hands reset his helmet on his head and the Sith Lord prepared to meet the Emperor of the Galactic Empire.

Later, he left his quarters and headed to the bridge to see to their arrival out of hyperspace. It was early morning working by Galactic Standard Time and the graveyard shift was preparing to be replaced by the standard bridge crew. The Admiral and the Captain were not there yet when Vader arrived. Moving to his regular spot he stared out the windows. There he checked his mind blocks around his private feelings about Luke. They were in place and he was ready.

The Captain stepped onto the bridge and paused momentary to gauge the situation. Seeing the Admiral was not yet here he immediately took command as the shift changed and bridge officers wandered in and out. Soon everyone was settled at their stations, and carrying out their orders.

"E.T.A. to Imperial Center, 15 minutes," came the call from navigation. The Captain nodded and briefly wondered where the Admiral was. He wondered where the Admiral had been the yesterday, too. Glancing at Darth Vader, he walked over to an computer terminal and called up a search for Piett's whereabouts. It said the primary bridge and the Captain looked up just as his superior entered.

Admiral Piett saw his Captain looking at him, so he nodded and his subordinate returned to his normal duties. He approached the Dark Lord and respectively greeted him. "Lord Vader."

The ebony figure turned his head to the right and looked down at the now fully recovered Admiral. "Piett." was all he said. He then turned back to the starlines of hyperspace. Acknowledging the fact that Vader had no new or additional orders for him he called another E.T.A. report from navigation. 5 minutes. He called out some other orders to prepare for the exiting of hyperspace. And soon it was time.

The starlines faded back into normal stars and the planet previous known as Coruscant and now known as the Imperial Center stood before them. It was and had been for the past millennia the government's seat on the Galaxy. A whole planet covered entirely with city. Over generations and generations the buildings were built on top of each other that now ground could not be seen except in the snowy mountains. The space around the planet was busy with traffic, but they easily parted for the Super Star Destroyer to pass.

Lord Vader had to go down to the surface and was leaving the bridge for the Hangar. Thinking about it, he decided to bring Piett along, too. "Admiral Piett," the Admiral turned to face Vader. "You will accompany me down to the Imperial Palace."

"Yes, m'Lord," Piett walked over to his Captain and gave some final orders before taking his place by Vader and following him out.

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The mousebot was heading to the bridge when Darth Vader and Admiral Piett marched through the door and passed by without even looking at the droid. Seeing it's recipients heading the opposite direction it stopped, backed up, and did a U-turn. He then ran down the halls after them.

The last maintenance check had been a different one. Not only did they wipe its memory, it had been upgraded. Now it had a holocamera attached to itself and a datapad carrier. The little droid followed them right up onto the Imperial Shuttle. Even so it could not deliver it's datacards because the door to the passenger's space was closed. Instead, it sat near the pilots and was shipped down to the city.

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**Author's Notes:** I'm sorry I missed last night's post, but I posted two tonight. Thanx so far to my five reviewers. You're the best:D MTFBWY

-IJedi


	6. Chapter 6

The Courier Droid

By _ImperialJedi_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Star Wars and I am not making any money from this story either.

**Chapter Dedicated To:** _IntelEwok_ and _Amylion_. It makes me very happy that there are people enjoying this story. Thanx:) –IJedi

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Mara Jade had just returned from a another successful mission for Emperor Palpatine. Tired, she grimly went through her wardrobe looking for appropriate attire for the meeting with Darth Vader. Choosing a plain green jumpsuit that matched her brilliant jade colored eyes she hurried and changed. She then pulled her red-gold hair up behind her into a simple ponytail and put a gun holster on her hip and a smaller holster on her forearm which concealed her small, but deadly blaster.

Deciding she was ready for anything she hurried down the nearly deserted halls past the Imperial Royal Guards posted at the throne room doors. Upon her entering the Emperor smiled at her from under his black hood. Mara walked up behind him and took her place, giving her most menacing look. She was the Emperor's Hand.

They waited in silence. Mara stretched out with all of her senses through the force to the coming visitor. No, visitors, there were two of them she concluded. One, the emanating Dark Lord of Sith, and the other, a pathetic officer who was showing a lot of fear as he began to recognize where they were headed.

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Admiral Piett had never been to the throne room itself in the Imperial Palace, but as the drew closer he felt they were near. The amount of Royal Guards increased and Piett was feeling some fear. They arrived at a turbolift and entered. The Admiral was nervously looking around everywhere. The stories that passed in the mess halls said that the Emperor had an even worst temper than Lord Vader!

Piett swallowed and tried to calm down. It wasn't working. Lord Vader noticed and put a hand on his shoulder. Piett relaxed instantly and prepared himself mentally to face the leader of their Empire. He tugged on the edge of his uniform, straightening it. Something beeped from behind them. A courier droid. Piett nearly jumped in surprise, but didn't. He'd seen a lot of those lately, or maybe it was the same one.

Darth Vader looked down sternly at the little droid. No one saw his expression, so it didn't work. Reaching down he took the datacards and the datapad and put them in it. After scanning over it he saw it was just more information on the rebel movements. He handed it over to Piett who looked like he desperately needed a distraction. Piett tried to read it, but failed the first time. He tried again after he managed to focus.

He just finished reading the information when they arrived at the right level and the turbolift doors opened. Following Lord Vader they stepped into the throne room. Up some flight of stairs sat the Emperor himself hidden behind his huge hood. Underneath it there was glimpse of piercing yellow eyes. Standing behind him was a woman with a very unwelcome stare. The Admiral took a deep breath and gathered up his courage. They then went up the flight of stairs and at the top Darth Vader went to one knee. Piett copied this motion a little behind and to the right of his Lord.

The Emperor begin, "Lord Vader." acknowledging him he smiled evilly . He also noticed Admiral Piett who was afraid of Darth Vader, but doubly afraid of his Majesty. "Who is your friend?" Vader turned his head in Piett's direction. Once again the Admiral felt a tug in the back of his mind. He followed it.

"Admiral Piett, my Emperor," he answered as respectfully as he could. Why was he here, anyway? Friend, of Vader? When had this happened? The Emperor considered Piett's answer and thoughts carefully, but then waved his hand.

"You are dismissed." Piett bowed stiffly and did a sharp turn and left the room by the turbolift carefully guarded by the red robed royal guards.

As he quietly went down to the hangar bay level he looked down at his feet and noticed the mousebot resting there silently. It beeped at him as the door open and together they left for the shuttle which had brought them down. They didn't belong here, their home was on the Star Destroyer traveling through the different systems and attacking the rebels. That was what Admiral Piett thought.

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AN: This has to be the most amateur chapter of the entire piece. I laughed throughout. It helps if you make up some reason for Palpy to be giving a force scan of Vader's fav Admiral or something. Maybe Palpy ordered Vader's most trusted to be judged. I thought about inserting more plot, but I felt the desire to keep it closer to the original stronger.


	7. Chapter 7

The Courier Droid

By _ImperialJedi_

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Star Wars, I'd be an Imperial Jedi. Unfortuantly, I'm just a meager film student at SCAD with many high interest student loans. Please allow me this one, little, insignificant joy (fanfiction) in my life! I beg you!

**Chapter Dedicated To:** _ILUVZIM _and_ Binksassasain_. This is the last chapter, so be sure to drop another review and tell me how you felt about it and the story as a whole. I'll miss you! MTFBWY :) –IJedi

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The mousebot beeped at Piett and wondered at the human's conviction that the Emperor was the rightful leader of the galaxy. He was evil, the courier droid thought. Yet, weak at the same time. Palpatine spent all day sitting on his throne sending Vader, his evil henchman, to do all the dirty work. Darth Vader was not as weak and without him the Empire would not live. If I rid the galaxy of the Sith Lord surely the Emperor will be weakened and the Rebels would prevail.

The droid continued to contemplate his attack at Darth Vader while as he entered the shuttle. They took off and flew into space leaving the Imperial Center behind. The droid decided to mess with someone's orders that way they would damage Vader's life support pod while he was in it, killing him. The little mousebot did not know of the Force and did not have that accounted for in his plan.

As soon as they landed in the hangar bay and the ramp was lowered down, the courier droid zoomed off. Admiral Piett looked at it strangely and thought it was malfunctioning. He called maintenance. They confirmed the order and Piett went up to the bridge.

The mousebot zipped along in the halls and was once almost blasted by a stormtrooper caught off guard. He immediately plugged into a computer terminal and started a scan for the right person to do the job. He had nearly finished his search when he suddenly squealed and fell silent. Standing nearby was a droid mechanic with a restraining bolt controller pointed at 1523.

He took it to his workshop and downloaded the film from the holocamera to his personal computer not connected to the ship. He then took the droid apart. It had become faulty one too many times and acted strange. He saved the powerpack and tossed the rest into his scrap pile. After viewing the film he transmitted it to the Rebel Alliance. The transmission was intercepted and the traitor was executed leaving the intelligent courier droid's effort a total waste.

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Epilogue:

Later, the Emperor physically punished Vader for his failure to turn or destroy Luke Skywalker on the planet Bespin. He later told him that his assassin, Mara Jade, would handle Skywalker. He was expected to arrive at Jabba's Palace on Tatooine to rescue Han Solo. That's where Mara Jade went while Darth Vader was sent out on some useless missions and battled against his rival, Prince Xixor, the leader Black Sun's crime organization. Things were moving very fast and Firmus Piett remained Admiral on the Executor for the rest of his days.

FIN

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AN: As short as that was, I think this was an exciting chapter. Take care and if you like Harry Potter, please check out my profile and other writings. :D -IJedi


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